ARMY – NAVY FOOTBALL GAME

It never grows old. In the 131st college football classic, Army and Navy returned to the Meadowlands, now MetLife Staduium in East Rutherford, N.J. before the usual capacity turnout.

This tilt has been played at West Point, in Annapolis, in Philadelphia, in Baltimore. in Chicago, in New York, but hadn’t played in New Jersey since 2013, and the crowd received a stellar, tight game that Navy won in an upset, 17-13, to win for the 55th time against 53 losses and seven ties.

The Midshipmen lost its first three starts, but recovered despite losing four outings by a total of 24 points, and finished with three-straight wins that included this exciting victory over the West Point Cadets in which it arrived with a 3-8 overall record against Army’s 8-3.

But the guys from Annapolis made the big plays that included a pair of touchdown runs from quarterback Tai Lavatal, one an 8-yard run in the fist quarter and another in the third quarter from 2 yards out. Army had taken a 10-7 opening quarter lead on a 56-yard burst up the middle by quarterback Chris Anderson and a 37-yard field goal from Carl Thalley.

That TD came on four plays for 75 yards in two minutes, while the Navy TDs were 74 yards on 10 plays and took up almost six minutes, and the other went 49 yards on 15 plays in just less than nine minutes, which brought the Midshipmen a 14-13 lead in the third quarter, and was followed by a fourth quarter 43-yard field from Bijan NIchols for a 17-13 advantage that its stout defense maintained over the final 6:10remaining.

It was, in fact, an excellent fourth quarter for the blue and gold on both sides of the ball. It was Lavatal on a fourth-and-four carry for the first down that led to his second touchdown, and it was the Navy defense that forced Army into three fourth downs that it stopped.

Running the ball was also a big surprise for the winners as the Midshipmen ran the ball 48 times for 201 yards. Through the air, Lavatal was good for four completions that brought 62 yards. The Cadets carried the ball 33 times for 124 yards, but, except for Anderson’s long run, never unleashed their ground attack. Anderson was good on 7-for-15 attempts via the air for 108 yards.

It was 13-7 for Army at the intermission, but Navy forged ahead 14-13 in the ,

and then shut down the vaulted Army offense in the second half. It stormed the field at the final whistle and got what it wanted, to sing along its anthem second, with goes to the winner.

On defense, the Midshipmen gained big games from sophomore linebacker Diego Fagot, who came away with five tackles, with seven assisted. Then there was senior Gavin Gibbons who also had five tackles, with another five

assisted. For the Cadets, senior Kevin Kemonte made four tackles with another nine assisted.

But Navy had its way as an 8-point underdog. It pieced together perhaps its best running game of the season, and that caught Army off guard. Then there was the defense that also perhaps played its top game of the campaign.

This classic began in 1890 at West Point, and shut down during World War 1 and World War 11, and one time in the Korean War and Vietnam.

EXTRA POINTS — This classic between the two biggest military academies in on the planet played mostly in Philadelphia 31 times. In New York, they played at Yankee Stadium, in Maryland at Landover, in Chicago at Solders Field, and West Point along the Hudson was the host seven times, while Annapolis only got this game once.

No matter where they played, in the snow, in the rain, in the wind, on muddy fields, it has never grown old, and is often referred to as the best college football game of the year. No free tickets, everyone pays for one, and it’s just a super scene uncovered each time that leads off with the teams coming onto the field with different color uniforms, decals and cheers from the stands.

A classic it is.